Last week, I mentioned an upcoming event called Bloggers Unite for Dog Rescue, which is being hosted by: Dog Rescue Success, Blog Catalog, and Be the Change for Animals. For the big event, I planned to highlight a new rescue group here in NY, but unfortunately, they did not get back to me with the needed information in time. Since it’s nearly ten at night and I’m scrambling for something to write, I’m going to take this opportunity to once more tell you about Just One Dog. If you’ve been following my blog, you probably already know who I’m talking about, but if you are new to Donna and the Dogs, I’d like to introduce you to A Special Dog in Search of His Forever Home – and his name is Simon.

This is Simon, a neutered, sweet, and super smart Lab mix who has been in foster care since he was only four months old, when his foster mom pulled him and his litter mates from a shelter in Joplin, Missouri…

Simon is now 2 years and 3 months old. That’s twenty five months in foster. TWENTY FIVEMONTHS. IN FOSTER.

He has one brown eye and one blue, and he does have a cute howl, so possibly he is mixed with Husky. However, he retrieves toys like a true Lab, giving them back without issue, and with a gentle mouth. He also takes treats very gently, which I know firsthand, because he spent Memorial Day weekend with us. (I should mention that there were fireworks going off all weekend, and Simon did not seem bothered by them at all.)

When Simon first got here on Saturday, he appeared to duck a little when we reached over him, but he also did not know us well, and by Monday when we brought him back to his foster home, the hand shyness seemed to have completely disappeared. And even though he ducked a bit at first, he did not show any signs of aggression towards either Nick or myself.

He allowed us to handle him with no issue – feet, tail, ears, etc – and he was very interested in us and was in-tune to everything we did. Every time I looked at him, he was watching me like this.

He is also incredibly smart. His foster home has not had time to train him, because she is busy being a caretaker to many fosters, but I was shaping Simon into a “Sit” within a few minutes. On leash outside, he did pull a little, but not horrifically like some rescues do, and he also checked back to look at me often – which is pretty impressive for a dog that didn’t even know me well.

Simon also appears extremely healthy. His foster home believes in feeding a grain free diet and follows a very holistic health care regimen. Simon’s coat was full, no signs of itching or allergies that many Labs are prone too. On top of that, he is 100% house broken, and even asked to go out by nudging and nibbling on his leash that was sitting on top of his crate!

Simon is living with dogs and cats at his foster home, but unfortunately he did not fit in well with my crew…otherwise I would have definitely adopted this dog myself. He was too focused on my cats for my comfort – but not to the extreme that he couldn’t be worked with, and if he had just needed work with the cats, I would have worked with him. But sadly, Simon also didn’t fit well with my dogs either.

He seemed intimidated by Leah, and he did not appear to like Toby very much. But if you have been following my blog, you know that a lot of dogs don’t like Toby for some reason, so I cannot fault Simon for that. And as far as Leah, she was very hospitable to him, better than I could have hoped for, but she was also twice his size,so I can’t fault him for feeling intimidated either. Meadow got along best with him, and I’m sure in the right home with the right dog, or someone with more room to keep dogs or cats separate until they got really comfortable with one another, he would be absolutely fine. Unfortunately for me, I just have a small house with a lot of animals with various issues, and I just can’t adopt another unless the fit is absolutely perfect.

Returning Simon was one of the hardest decisionsI’ve ever had to make, even though it was only a trial weekend to begin with. I really, really, really liked this dog, and I can’t say enough good things about him. Judging by his attentiveness to his handler, he might be perfect for someone looking for an obedience or rally dog who would like to start from scratch with a young dog.

If you are interested in adopting Simon, please contact his foster mom, Camille, by email at:Catsamille@aol.com .

Even if you are not interested – PLEASE don’t let Simon spend his life in foster care. While he is well cared for, he is also housed in a kennel situation with other dogs at his foster home. He’s not living with a family, sharing their bedroom at night, going for walks on the beach, or using his very bright mind other than finding creative ways to flip over his food dish.

For Bloggers Unite, all I am asking is that everyone share Simon’s Story – on Facebook, on your Blogs, on Twitter, and by E-mailing this post to your dog loving friends. You never know where his forever family might be hiding – so let’s use this great blogging community of ours to find them…and blog the change for just onedog today.

PLEASE CHECK OUT SOME OF THE OTHER GREAT BLOGGERS PARTICIPATING IN THIS EVENT BELOW:

I think part of the problem is that his foster mom really has no internet presence and she is no longer an active rescue group….but she is still trying to find home for several dogs that she rescued a while back, Simon is only one of them.

Hi Donna and thanks for coming by my blog on the Blog Hop! I read your story about Simon and sure hope that sweet Lab gets a forever home very soon! I had a rescued dog, Princess, with one blue and one brown eye, she was a Husky-mix, so I bet Simon is Lab mixed with Husky…dogs with very good dispositions! And very smart too, I saw that with my Princess. I am sharing Simon’s story!

Awww. I thought – for sure – Simon would have found a home by now. What a sweet, sweet soul. He’ll find that perfect fit with details like you provide though. Your efforts in training, too, will have such a positive effect. Wishing you well, sweet Simon!

I think because his foster mom is no longer active in rescue, so she doesn’t have a lot of resources to try and push the remaining dogs she has. I’m hoping to at least get just this one adopted though.